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McGovern Institute Neurotechnology (MINT) Program

The McGovern Institute Neurotechnology (MINT) program was created in 2006 to support collaborations between neuroscientists and researchers from other disciplines within and beyond MIT, with a view to developing new platform technologies for brain research. The MINT program hopes to build a community around the shared goal of technical innovations that will help to transform the future of neuroscience and medicine.

With support from the Institute’s founding donors Patrick and Lore Harp McGovern, the MINT program provides seed funding for collaborative projects that seek to develop new tools and technology platforms for neuroscience research. To date, more than a dozen projects have been funded in diverse fields, including genetic methods for optical recording of neural activity, new sensors for MRI, and new electrodes and electronic systems for neural prosthetic devices.

MINT awards are typically made for a one-year period, and can provide up to $100,000 in direct costs. In some cases, funding can be extended for a second year although this is not guaranteed. To be eligible for consideration, projects must involve collaboration between a McGovern investigator (including associate investigators) and researchers from outside the McGovern Institute. Priority is given to collaborations with other departments and disciplines within MIT, although we can also consider proposals that involve external collaborators.